Parental medical activity in relation to their own and children’s health: similarities and differences

A family creates conditions to form and develop children’s human potential including make significant contribution to preserving and promoting their health. Mothers make the main contribution to health care and children’s development. At the same time, the question of the correlation between the characteristics of parents’ medical activity in relation to their own health and children’s health remains insufficiently studied. The aim of the research is to identify similarities and differences of these features. The information base of the study is the data of mass survey of Vologda Region adults, conducted in 2022, as well as the data of longitude cohort study of children’s health, which has been conducting since 1995. We established that for Vologda Region adults raising children in a family, the characteristic of medical activity is the postponement of preventive visits to a doctor until there is no significant deterioration of health. This practice is formed even against the background of high importance of the health value. Based on the cohort monitoring data, the research shows that parents tend to be highly active in relation to their children’s health. The majority of families who participated in the longitudinal cohort study are characterized by immediate referral to a doctor in cases of acute illnesses of children and high adherence to the recommendations of the attending physician. The revealed discrepancy between the practices of medical activity in relation to their own health and children’s health forms prerequisites for children to internalize the practices of low medical activity in relation to their health. The results of the study can be used in the development of measures to improve medical literacy of families with children and increase their preventive medical activity.